The schedule.

So.... here is my schedule.


October 15th --> Report to Maxwell AFB, Mongomery, AL for COTS (commissioned officer training)
November 16th --> Graduation from COTS  (I expect to you there Dad and Marty)

December 1st -->  Late possible day to arrive at Schriever AFB, Colorado Springs (I expect to be there around Nov. 21)

Be the peon in the office for 2 whole months.  I'll be low man on the officer totem pole as a 1st LT.

Mid February --> Report back to Maxwell AFB for JASOC (JAG school/military lawyer school)
Mid April --> Graduate from JASOC.  During this time, we'll be flown up to the Pentagon where we will be sworn in by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals. (Pretty awesome).

Then it's back to Colorado Springs to start my 2 year term there, where I go after those 2 years, who knows! 

In short, I'll be a military ping pong ball for the time being.

Where is Archer you ask?

Archer is staying with some of the best people I know in the entire world.  The Smeltzers have taken him in with loving arms and are treating him like a king! Well, when he's not a puddle of puppy on the floor after playing all day with their 2 dogs.

As you can see... he's packed and ready to come!

He won't be joining me until I'm done with all training, so not until around early May.

I honestly can't wait to see his spoiled butt in the snow, although he'll be thrilled that the entire world is now Air Conditioned.

I do need to find him some little snow booties though... any suggestions?

But where the heck am I going?!

So I'm in! I'm medically sound!

But where will I be living?

Why let me show you!

You're looking at Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Pikes Peak to be exact!

I waited for FOREVER to find out where I was going.  Coupled with the non-stop asking of friends and family (some with ulterior motives, I'm looking at you Aunt Pookie), I finally got the call about my permanent base.

Normally you get a will be given a choice.  I was expecting a call with a choice of a couple of bases to pick from.  Well..... not this time.  I was told I could have Colorado Springs or no deal.

I thought about it for all of 3 seconds and readily accepted.  Did I mentioned I was poked and prodded for 10 hours at MEPs?

I had originally wanted San Antonio, it would have been a perfect base for me.... but personally and after having some time to think about it, HECK YA!  Colorado is going to be awesome!

It's an outdoor wonderland!  I'm going to do my very best to not fall off a mountain or get eaten by a bear.  But I plan to hike, mountain climb, bike, ski, heck I might even camp til I puke.

I will be stationed at Schriever AFB.

Yes, that does indeed say "Master of Space".  Not quite Master of the Universe, but I'll take it.

 Schriever AFB specializes in GPS positioning for the AF and is also known as the "Space Wing".

As Dad put it, if we head into a major world war?  My base would be one of the most important ones to be be bombed.  It's the base that does all the coordinates for the ballistic missiles and handles all communications with satellites.  Thanks dad!

I'm uber excited! I get to play with space law!  I always wanted to be an astronaut, and this is about as close as I'll ever get.

Best of all? Bye bye Texas 100+ weather.

Second best of all?  I'm getting a 2 bedroom apartment as Archer and I would love ALL visitors.

Just no one from around August to early November, that's already been called Dibs on.  Yay for unicorns!

MEPs and a nasal dilemma.

So all good things, must have a great beginning.

I was accepted!  So now what?

The endless sea of paperwork, that's what.

I have come to understand that the acceptance into the JAG Corp is the easy part.

I have signed so many papers, been poked and prodded by so many people, made to jump so many hoops, and I still feel lost.  I have a law degree for christ's sake!

MEPS was a whole new experience.

I was asked to show up at 5:30, only to be yelled at by a surly man upon my arrival that I was 30 minutes late.  When he ascertained that I was going to be an officer his response was "oh, that explains it".  hmmmmm

I was put in a room with a ton of 18-19 y/os who sat around me giggling at what the medical exam was going to entail.  (yes, there was some spreading of butt cheeks, and a woefully inadequate but very humiliating paper towel dress)

I will say, it was a cattle call at its finest.  I shuffled from station to station where my ears were checked, eyesight was examined, blood was drawn, and crevices were inquired after.

The worst part was at one point, my fellow girls and I were ushered into a room, told to strip to our undies and bras and had to go through a complex (or not so complex) series of exercises designed to show off our excellent motor capabilities and joint function. 

I just want to say that I am a CHAMP at the duck walk.  I waddled my way around that room, and left those young girls in the dust.  I would also like to stress, if you know you're going to have to strip down to your skivvies, wear the nice stuff.

At the end of the day (10 hours later), I had a paper in hand saying that I was fit for duty.

The only thing that upset me about the whole process was my nose.

For those of you that weren't keeping up with my nose drama, let me fill you in.....

Sometime around March or so, I was out jogging and ran by some guys with those heavy duty mowers.  I doing what I do best, inhaled "something".  It resulted in an inch long gash in my nasal cavity and eventually full blown staph.  Little did I know.  I was oblivious to this for about 2 months, just thought I was having extra nose bleeding due to the changing of the weather, no big deal right? Wrong.

2 rounds of heavy duty antibiotics and thrice daily swappings of "nose goop" over 2 months later, I was finally on the way to healing.  But I was TERRIFIED of being denied admittance to the military as a result of this.  I know people that have been turned away for braces on their teeth.  So I jumped through all the hoops, got all the medical records and disclosed everything about it.

Fast forward to MEPs.  They saw my nose issue on my records.  I was bounced around and talked to at least 5 different doctors all up in arms about the condition of my nose, etc etc.  In the end the head doctor at the office decided it was alright and certified me.

It wasn't until I was in my car and driving back to Huntsville that it hit me like a lightning bolt.

NOT ONE SINGLE DOCTOR EVER GOT OUT A SCOPE AND ACTUALLY LOOKED UP MY NOSE.  Not one!  They were so concerned about it, yet no one actually looked at it!

Insane.

But I guess it's something that I have to look forward to in the years to come.

The Process

So.

I decided to follow in my older sister's footsteps and start a blog to keep everyone informed with what will be going with me in the next adventure.

For those of you that are unaware and are wondering "what the heck am I doing here?" :

I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE AIR FORCE JAG CORP!

I found out the good news late May following a crushing "forced resignation" from the Walker County DA's Office, due to some office restructuring (and I think some other games afoot), and I was given the option of resigning.  GUTTED.

However, following a depressing Wednesday-Friday afternoon, I received a call while walking around the local Office Depot  shopping for interview materials.  It was a call, all the way from Japan.  Col Dan Rogers wanted to be the very first person to inform me that I had been accepted into the JAG Corp.

Col Rogers was the Staff Judge Advocate that I formed a mentor/mentee relationship with following my interviewing with him at Lackland AFB.  I had interviewed with him twice before with non-acceptance as a result even though he assured me that I was his top pick every time.  He even went so far as to head over to the Accessions Office and threw what he called a "temper tantrum".  The last time I interviewed with him I was chosen 26th for the JAG, but that Accession Board only accepted 25.  I JUST missed it.  Col Rogers called and said to reapply, however I had just accepted a job with Walker County DA and decided to do my time there and then I would consider reapplying.  He said he would contact me in 1 year. 

Sure enough, he did.

I showed up, I interviewed, and radio silence for 2 months.

Then the call.  He wanted to inform that I had been accepted as 1 of 12, out of a possible 3000 applicants.  I don't know what I did to that man, but I hope I live up to all the wonderful things that he must have said about me. 

So... away we go!